Observations, musings & outright lies

Spare a Dime?

My answer to the question posed in the post title is typically “no,” well, unless I really really like you.

See, I don’t spend change for the most part. Dimes, nickels, pennies, quarters – once they come into my possession, I don’t want to use them for a vending machine or to make a retail clerk’s day easier.

It’s not that I don’t like retail clerks; I like change better.

Everything but quarters gets saved in a series of piggy banks. The first is an actual ceramic piggy bank that belonged to my Dad when he was little. From there, it’s an assortment of another pig (this one a red, plastic giveaway from a long defunct bank), a mason jar with a cool lid locking doohickey and a ceramic Bermudian phone booth.

When the containers are full, I get to do something. After trading in the coins at a local TD Bank (no fee for counting coins AND you don’t need an account), maybe I’ll go somewhere nice for dinner or take a weekend getaway. Maybe I’ll just buy something that otherwise could be considered frivolous. In the past, I’ve walked away with over $200 for my change.

That’s likely to change (hah!) the next time I empty the piggy banks. Quarters have become akin to gold since I need them for the parking meters at the train station. They get saved separately and I occasionally beg friends and family to let me buy their spare quarters.

The parking meters will affect my final turn in total, and without the bulk of a quarter, it takes longer to fill a piggy bank. Right now, ceramic pig is full and plastic pig is about half full. Only 2.5 more containers worth of small change until something fun happens!